Many printing devices make use of a replaceable print cartridge. The cartridge typically contains a print material (e.g., toner or ink) that is consumed during a printing operation.
There have been efforts in the past to develop systems that monitor the remaining life of a print cartridge in a printing device. Ways are needed, however, to improve these systems.
It is noted for the later discussion that the xe2x80x9cremaining lifexe2x80x9d of a print cartridge refers to the present capacity of the cartridge to print additional pages. One way, for example, the remaining life of a cartridge may be expressed is as a percentage of the original capacity.
For example, if none of the original amount of print material in a cartridge has been consumed, the remaining life of the cartridge may be said to be at xe2x80x9c100%xe2x80x9d. If 50% of the original print material is consumed, the remaining life of the cartridge may be said to be at xe2x80x9c50%xe2x80x9d.